Investment income is not double taxed

There is a clear error in the letter from Brian Van Mols (Herald, Aug. 21), primarily regarding what he alleges is double taxation on retirement investment.

My wife and I contributed to individual retirement accounts and tax-sheltered annuities throughout our entire working careers, with our contributions taken off the top, thereby reducing our taxable income during those periods of employment. We fully understood that when we started receiving income from those investments it would be taxed, but during the retirement years, when our income is much less. Double taxation? Not quite.

Secondly, he alleges that 50 percent of Americans pay no taxes at all. Where does he obtain this information, Fox News? When my unmarried, youngest son started working immediately after college, he was earning $25,000, on which he paid taxes.

Finally, is Mitt Romney a part of the 50 percent of Americans who Van Mols alleges pay no taxes at all?